1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coin operated machines for dispensing an individual product unit upon depositing a particular size coin therein to release a manually operated dispensing mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of coin operated machines for dispensing a wide range of products are known in the vending machine art. Some of these machines are more simple, such as the well known gum ball machine which dispenses a single product unit, a gum ball, from a container filled with gum balls. For the most part, these less sophisticated machines do not allow the user to choose from a variety of flavors or product types. Rather, a single product, usually not visible to the consumer, is randomly released from the bottom of the container upon depositing a particular coin, such as a quarter, and manually operating a mechanism which releases a single product unit from the container. Other vending machines are much more sophisticated, allowing the user to choose among a variety of products by entering a particular code on a key pad which activates an electronical dispensing mechanism to release the selected product for retrieval by the consumer. While these type of vending machines are very useful and convenient to consumers, they are usually very large and quite expensive. Therefore, use of these type of machines is limited to high volume commercial vending in locations where there is a significant demand for snacks and refreshments. Ordinarily, these more sophisticated vending machines are used in replacement of a refreshment stand or snack bar, eliminating the need for full-time attendance by one or more employees. Regardless of whether the vending machine is of the simple gum ball type or the more complicated electronically controlled type, the above described machines are primarily designed for the purpose of selling a product.
Aside from vending machines which are primarily designed for the purpose of selling a product, there exists various devices which are designed to solicit charitable donations, and in exchange for a donation, the donator may take a piece of candy or other token item. One of the most commonly known type of charity collection devices is an honor box. In most instances, an honor box has two compartments, including one for receipt of donations and another for holding give-away items such as pieces of candy. Typically, a person making a donation would deposit any desired denomination of currency through a slot in the money receiving compartment and thereafter remove one piece of candy. A problem arises, however, when dishonest people take candy without making a donation. Still, others take more than one piece when making a relatively small donation. It is called an honor box because the donator is supposed to be on their "honor" when making a donation. Unfortunately, in this day and age, there are too many dishonorable people for such a system to work effectively.
There presently exists various coin-operated dispensing machines which are primarily designed to dispense disc-shaped products. These machines are primarily intended for use in soliciting charitable contributions, while eliminating some of the problems associated with the typical "honor boxes". While these dispensing machines include a rotating carousel which is similar in structure to that of the present invention, the coin release mechanisms of these machines are entirely different. Unlike the coin release mechanism of the present invention, these machines are not structured to accept a particular size coin and reject all other size coins. Some of these machines use a magnetic connection in the coin release mechanism which is broken by contact with any size coin. The present invention is specifically designed to eliminate this problem.
Accordingly, in spite of the numerous existing product dispensing machines in the related art, there still exists a need for a simple, attractive, low cost counter-top product dispensing machine which is ideally suited for collecting charitable donations at a check-out or cashier's counter in exchange for a candy product or other low cost item.